Damned Yellow Question Mark

Procedure for Windows 95/98:

Q) How can I remove the yellow question mark on my system panel key entry?

A) In order to get rid of the annoying yellow question mark from the system panel you can feed windows the akaisamp.inf file (hold down the shift key if using NS and save as file). To do this, you can either enter the system panel, click on the devices tab then go to your yellow question mark and hit the "update driver" button then specify the location of the inf file or you can remove the AKAI key from the system and hit the "refresh" button and wait until windows prompts you to locate the driver for the new hardware (of course your AKAI must be still on and connected). Then simply browse to the location to where you downloaded the .inf file and double click on it and you should be set.

If you feel like it and would like to edit the key yourself here's what you must change in your registry:

1) Find your AKAI's registry entry (under HKEY_Local_Machine->Enum->SCSI)
2) Double click on the "CLASS" key and enter "MEDIA" instead of "Unknown".
3) Double click on the "ConfigFlags" key and replace the initial "40" with a "00".
4) Reboot and check if all went well!

Q) Help! My AKAI is finally seen under win95 but I'm having problems in accessing my CD-ROM when WIN95 is running!
Q) I'm "sharing" a SCSI CDROM with my PC and AKAI, are there any problems or adjustments I should make to my system for correct functioning?

A) This problem is caused by a resident win95 "routine" that keeps checking the state of your CDROM drive to see if you have changed/inserted a new CD in it: in this way it can update the CD icon and automatically launch the autorun.inf to make the install application start if it is prepared for win95. However this continuous "accessing" of the SCSI CD-ROM gives your AKAI a bad time because the AKAI transfer is interrupted by this check. To resolve this problem just go in the control panel -> system -> devices tab and double click on your CD-ROM device tag to enter the properties page. Now click on the settings tab and deselect the "auto-notification" check box. Click on OK and close your system window. At this time you will be asked to reboot; once you're back in windows, the trick is done:) - try accessing your CD from your AKAI!

Procedure for Windows 2K/XP:

A) I have not yet made an inf file for 2K or XP so you will have to do this by hand editing your registry. If you don't feel confident about messing with your registry, skip this as the yellow question mark will not do any harm or create problems - everything will work just as well.
    Firstly, open regedit (start->run->regedit) and locate the HKeyLocalMachine-> System-> CurrentControlset-> Enum-> SCSI subkeys and expand them. You will find here your AKAI EMI key - expand it also. You will need to modify the usual two keys: "Configflags" which you must edit and change the "40" to "00" and "Class" which you must change to "MEDIA". Now close regedit and reboot.

Q) Help! My AKAI is finally seen under 2K/XP but I'm having problems in accessing my CD-ROM when Windows is running!
Q) I'm "sharing" a SCSI CDROM with my PC and AKAI, are there any problems or adjustments I should make to my system for correct functioning?

A) As in win9x, also 2K/XP have an autorun "service" for each CDROM that is recognized under the system. If this CDROM is on the same chain as your AKAI is (for ex you have an external SCSI CDROM dedicated to your AKAI linked up to your system) windows will recognized it and add it to it's devices automatically, polling it regularly through the autorun service - this must be disabled. To do this, again open your registry and locate the key HKLM-> Curr.controlset-> Services-> Cdrom. Here you should find an "Autorun" key (if you don't, create a DWORD key called like that) - set it's value to 0 and close regedit then reboot. You can check if the routine is still running by inserting a CDROM with an autorun.inf file and see if it runs by itself. If it doesn't, you're ok.

Q) Will Soundforge now work with the new OS?

A) No, the problem is with the communication protocol. Soundforge uses SCSI/SMDI which is not the same as AKAI's proprietary protocol (SCSI 2 MIDI). Trying to establish communication with SoundForge will result in an ASPI communication error and nothing else.

Q) Will Recycle v1.6 still work with the new OS?

A) Yes it sure will! And more: removing the DOS aspi drivers and re-enabling Windows 9x's ones you will recover full 32bit functional SCSI drivers boosting system performance. Alas, being Recycle! a 16bit application, it's "performance" will not be improved but you will nevertheless have a more stable and functional system. Of course Recycle 1.7 is native 32bit so no problems there.